Building-blocks for toy castles.



O. G. SGHWARZ.

BUILDING BLOG'KS FOR TOY CASTLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, m2.

1,061,637., Patented May 13,1913.

Inventor: Ofio QJChU/d'ij O. C. SGHWARZ.

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR TOY CASTLES.

APPLIOATIOH FILED APR. 25, 1912.

3,061,837.. Patented May 1913.

S HHEBTS-SHEBT 2.

50 r 50 fi/ a? O. G. SOHWARZ.

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR TOY GASTLES.

v APPLIOATION FILED APR. 25, 1912.

51 Patented May 13, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

0 123 6J0]? ZVKUV/ OTTO C. SCHWARZ, OF NEW CHICAGO, INDIANA.

BUILDING-BLOCKS FOR TOY CASTLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 25, 1912. Serial No. 693,147.

Patented May 13, 1913.

, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a series of novel building blocks, soconstructed and arranged as to be capable of being placed together torepresent a feudal castle,a building,a bridge or other structure, andthe invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combinationof the parts hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. I

The purpose of the invention is to provide a novel construction ofblocks of th1s character so arranged that they may be assembled toproduce a structure of massive and pleasing effect and of variouscontours and outlines, with the individual parts thereof so constructedthat they may be packed for shipment or storage in small compass whendisassembled.

In the drawings ;--Figure 1 is a perspective View of a toy castleembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of thelarger towers. Fig. 3 is detail vertical section thereof. Fig. 4 is atransverse sec-' tion of the tower. Fig. 5 is an inverted perspectiveview of the top piece or cornice of the tower. Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of a unit or section of the wall. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of onehalf of the gate-way piece,

or unit. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section, indi cated on the line 88 ofFig. 7. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the parts of thesectional base of the tower. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of one of themembers of the multi-part column base.

In the drawings I have shown one form of structure in which my inventioncan be em-' bodied, to wit, a feudal castle but it will be understoodthat the same may be embodied in other structures, as forinstance,'buildings, bridges and the like and that certain of thearchitectural contours will be varied in the different embodiments ofthe invention.

The wall of the castle or inclosure coma prises as its salient parts thetowers 10 and 11 (the latter shown as constitutin corner towers and madeof less height tian the former, which occupies a middle portion of thewall), wall units 12 and 13, wall and corner posts 14, 15, (the formerbeing arranged principally in the line of the wall and the inner anglesof the walls, and the latter at the outer angles or corners of thewalls) and a gate-way piece or unit 16 having an arched waytherethrough.

The tower 10 is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 5, both inclusive. It isherein shown as made of rectangular cross section, and comprises fourpanels 18, 18, made of thin stock, preferably of cross-grained veneer,fourcorner posts 19, 19, a top piece 20 and a base designated as a wholeby 21. Each corner post 19 is longitudinally grooved on two of itsadjacent sides to receive the side margins of the panels 18, asindicated in Fig. 4; said panels fitting in said grooves with a fairlyloose fit to hold them in assembled relation while permitting the partsto be readily assembled and dismounted. While the cross section of thetower is shown as rectangular, it may assume other cross sections, asfor instance, circular. The top piece 20 comprises an open frameconsisting of members 22, 22 and a horizontal plate or member 23, thewhole being glued or otherwise rigidly fastened together. The exteriorand top portions of the members of the top piece may be treated toproduce any conventional or desired architectural contour. The sidemembers 22 of the top piece are recessed or cut away at their corners,as indicated at 24, to constitute notches to set down over the cornerposts 19 of the tower to thus produce an interlocking connection betweenthe top piece and the posts and panels. The panels fit at their topswithin the side faces of the thickened portions of the side members 22ofthe top piece. The interlocking connection of the top piece with thecorner posts and panels, as described, strengthens the tower, as awhole, so as to enable it to be readily handled, as a unit withoutdanger of collapsing.

The base 21 of the tower may be made in a manner generally similar tothe top piece 20. I prefer, however, to make said base of a pluralityofsections 25, 25 and 26. The shape of the former is shown in Fig. 9, itcomprising a narrow solid portion having at one side the flange27 and atits end the panel 35.

flanges 28, 28. The flanges 27 are recessed at.

29 to constitute recesses to interlock the base member with the cornerposts 19 of the tower. The intermediate members 26 extend across thebase of the tower and are provided at their ends with the upturnedflanges 30 to overlap the lower ends of the tower panels, as shown inFigs. 3 and 4.

The corner towers 11 are made like the larger or central tower 10 withrespect to the corner posts, panels and top pieces, all of which bearreference numerals similar to the larger tower. Preferably however, thecorner towers are not provided with bases, but rest with their posts andpanels directly on the supporting surface.

The wall sections or units 12, one of which is shown in Fig. 6, eachcomprise a panel 32, a wide base 33 and a narrowertop piece 34. The saidbase is grooved at its upper side or margin, and the top piece isgrooved' at its lower side or margin to receive the lower and uppermarginal portions, respectively, of the panel 32;the said panel marginsfitting sufiiciently tight in the base and top piece grooves to retainthe parts in assembled relation, while permitting them to be readilydismembered. It will be observed that the terminal pieces, bases and toppieces 33, 34, are disconnected, except for the panels 32, the latterconstituting the sole conmotion between the terminal pieces.

The gate-way piece or unit 16 comprises a wide panel 35 provided with anarched opening 36, two bases 37, 37 at the sides of said opening, whichare grooved at their up.

per side margins to receive the lower margins of the legs of the panel35, and the top piece 38 which is also grooved on its under side toengage over the top margin of the The said top piece 38-may be finishedaccording to a conventional or preferred architectural design, it beingherein shown as of general triangular cross section, with its basegrooved to fit over the panel 35. Between the bases 37 and the top piece38 of the gate-way section or'unit the side margins of the gate-waypanel 35 are inclosed by the grooved finishing strip 39 which gives afinished appearance to the sides of the panels and to the joint betweenthe gate-way piece panel and the adjacent side wall unit or section. Thecorner posts 15 may likewise be surmounted-by top pieces 40 which aregrooved on their under sides to receive the tongues41 in which saidcorner posts terminate at their upper ends.

The wall sections 13 are of lattice or openwork construction, comprisinghorizontal and vertical cross bars 43, 44, the latter of which arearranged between and separate the cross bars 43 so as to allow them tofit over the panels 32 of adjacent wall sections as shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1 is shown one form of castle which may be made of the blocks orunits heretofore described, and from an ins ection thereof, and of theseveral pieces il ustrated, it will be apparent that such form may bewidely varied to produce different architectural effects and designs ofcastles from the same set of blocks or pieces.

The purpose of making the base 21 of the tower 10 of sectional form isto permit one of the sections of the base to be removed, as

47 in said panel. The said swinging section may be supported in itsdownward position, by the chains 48 which are attached to the outer endsof said swinging section and are trained through openings 49 in an insetpiece 50 at the top of said opening. Said chains are connected at their.inner ends, within the tower, with a weight 51 which serves, when thehinged portion is swung upwardly, to hold the same in its closedposition. The parts just described produce the effect of a draw-bridge.Stops 52 extending across the outer side of the swinging draw-bridgesection limit the closing movement thereof.

The bases and top pieces of the towers and wall sections or units, aswell as the exposed sides of the tower, corner posts and finishingstrips of the gate-way unit may be treated with an exterior finish orcoating of a sand or stone mixture to give a stone or concrete finishthereto, or what I term a granite veneer. The wall and tower panels andthe gate-way panels may also have a surface finish of any desiredcharacter in imitation of masonry and window openings.

While I have shown my invention as embodied in a castle or fortressstructure, it will be obvious that the salient features thereof may beembodied in other structures, as buildings, bridges, etc., and also thatthe architectural details or contours and the manner of arranging theparts in the structure may be varied without departing from theessential features of the invention.

I claim as my invention 1. In a toy structure, a tower, comprisinggrooved post's, panels removably fitted at their margins in the groovesof the posts and a top piece surmounting' the tower, said top piececomprising a surrounding wall which fits down over the tower walls andprovided with recesses to receive the upper with a multi-part basecomprising outer oposite members, arranged side by side and mterlockingwith the walls of the tower, and a separate, removable intermediatemember.

3. In a toy structure, a tower comprising side panels and ostsconnecting the same, one of said ane s being provided with an opening, araw-bridge section for closing said opening and adapted to swing to ahorizontal position, chains for supporting said draw-bridge section inits open position, and a weight within the tower acting on said chainsto hold the draw-bridge section in its closed position.

4. In a toy structure, the combination with a tower comprisingconnect-ed panels and a base, of a wall section comprising a.

base, a top piece and an intermediate panel, said tower base having anopening to receive the wall section base to permit the wall sectionpanel to'fit flush against the tower panel.

5. In a toy structure, the combination with a tower comprising connectedpanels and a multipart base, of a wall section comprislng a paiiel, abase and a top piece, one of the parts of the base being removable toprovide a s ace at the base to permit an adjacent wal section base tofit thereinto, for thepurpose set forth.

6. In a toy structure, a gate-way sectio or unit comprising a panelhaving an arched opening formed therethrough and extending to the bottomof the panel, bases at the si es of said opening and provided withgrooves to releasably receive the lower end margins of the legsof saidpanel, a top piece removably fitted to the upper margin of said paneland grooved finishing ieces removably fitted to the side mar 'ns 0 saidpanel between the said bases an top piece.

7. In a toy structure, the combination with wall sections comprisinganels, bases and top pieces, of an open wor or latticed wall sectioncomprisin laterally separated side pieces adapted to t in overlappingrelation the panels of the adjacent wall sections and intermediate crosspieces fixed to the side pieces.

8. In. a toy structure, a wall section or unit comprising two separateterminal pieces provided at their adjacent edges with grooves and apanel co-extensive in width with the length of the terminal pieces andextending between, and releasably on aging at its edges the groovedportions of t e terminal pieces and constituting the sole connectionbetween said terminal pieces.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix my siature in the presence of two witnesses, this 19th day of April, A. D.1912.

OTTO C. SCHWARZ.

Witnesses:

G. E. Downs, W..L. HALL.

